The present invention is directed to the field of engine exhaust systems, and more particularly to a heat shield adapted for specific use with a part of an exhaust system, such as a muffler, catalytic converter, or the like.
It has become a widely used practice in the automotive and heavy equipment industry to employ heat shields in proximity to various components of an exhaust system. Many times, especially in vehicles and heavy equipment employed for agricultural purposes, heat shields are employed on exhaust system components such as mufflers, since such components are many times in direct contact with combustible material. Additionally, heat shields have become popular on ordinary passenger vehicles due to the wide use of catalytic converters which tend to become very hot under certain circumstances.
Heretofore, such heat shields have been designed for specific applications, a specific heat shield being designed for a particular muffler or converter. This can be troublesome when it is necessary to replace a muffler or converter, since the heat shield is typically provided separately. Thus, a supplier of exhaust system parts must stock a very large variety of different shields to accommodate an associated variety of replacement mufflers and converters.